FOR Malena Georgieva, it’s been a long trip to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A native of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, a provincial city about an hour from Sofia, she received a degree in Soviet-style industrial management just as the Soviet Union was collapsing. Adapting to the post-Communist world after emigrating to the United States in 1993, she enrolled in a master’s program at the University of New Haven, supporting herself as a hotel chambermaid for $4.50 an hour. (“I thought, if I ever make $10 an hour, I’ll be queen of the world,” she said.) Eventually, she was hired by Deloitte & Touche, beginning a career in risk management, and her simultaneous love affair with New York City.

But Ms. Georgieva had another dream — to become an artist and designer. So she took continuing-education courses in interior design at New York University, and then set up her own firm. Two days after it opened for business in 2008, the economy took a nose dive.

Clients weren’t exactly beating down her door, so she went back to work in risk management and put her design efforts into her home, a tiny space down the block from the Dakota, on West 72nd Street. The fourth-floor apartment, for which she pays $1,750 a month, consists of a single room, just over 200 square feet, with a bed, a desk, a dining table and a couple of swivel chairs.

It is essential that they swivel — it allows them to face the dining area, the sleeping area or the living area, depending on how Ms. Georgieva is using the apartment. The Tirup chairs cost nearly $400 each at Ikea, making them far and away the most expensive furnishings in the space. Some items cost $12 (a glass cheese platter that she turned into a tabletop) or $40 (table legs, from Ikea, on which she mounted a board upholstered in imitation leather from the fabric emporium Mood). One substantial expenditure was for lumber, with which she and her father, a retired engineer who visited from Plovdiv, built the queen-size platform bed.

All in all, she spent about $1,500. Given that she would like to open a design firm again someday, and can’t deplete her savings, her frugal decorating is just another form of risk management.

Evidence of Ms. Georgieva’s cleverness is everywhere. She discovered she could turn a guest mattress on its side and slide it between her bed and the wall, where it functions as a kind of bolster pillow. To make the sleeping area feel like a room, she had three photographs of orchids, which she took on her Canon Rebel, blown up to 6-by-6-foot images, then hung them on the walls and ceiling surrounding the bed. (Ms. Georgieva did have to cut a few inches off the photos to get them up the building’s stairs.)

“I need to check my appearance before I go out,” said Ms. Georgieva, 43, explaining the full-length mirror, a $9 item that she turned into a conceptual artwork, gluing tiny toys to its frame and painting it all white. She hung another mirror at an angle on the wall, so that it would disrupt the boxy lines of the apartment and send light from the lone window across the room. Below that mirror is a tiny dining table that can seat four, using two stools from Overstock.com and a bench she created by putting an upholstered board on top of a rarely used radiator.

Another upholstered board became her desktop. She attached her cable box to the underside of the board, using leftover curtain rod brackets, so it doesn’t take up valuable desk space.

“I’m sure everybody has the tools at home,” she said, of her ingenious cable-box solution. “It’s just that they don’t think about it.”

Who watched Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing?” I watch the show religiously and couldn’t wait to see what property Chad Rogers listed next. Now that Chad has sold millions of luxury real estate and has seen some of the best designs, he wants to share his own perspective on design and what makes a home. Sharing a home with another person is never easy, but in Chad’s case he had to make certain accommodations for his tiny little dog, Starla.

When I first started browsing through the photos of Chad’s new condo and comparing it to his resource list, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that many of the furniture pieces and accessories were acquired through rather affordable furniture stores (compared to the furniture featured in his listed properties) and eBay. He got creative looking for unique finds and even shopped at As Seen On TV for pet furniture. He may be my new favorite “Million Dollar Listing” realtor. I am really going to miss seeing him on the show this season!

Apartment Therapy Survey:

My Style: Post Modern

Inspiration: I have always been a fan of modern furnishings and design, but sometimes that style can translate into a very cold office-like feel. It was important for me to give my place warmth. I have always felt that one’s home should be an extension of their personality. My home is 150% Chad Rogers.

Favorite Element: My favorite design element that I was able to create was warmth and personality through different fabrics and textures. My place also has a lot of vintage art from different genres, which really makes it unique to me. I am also now collecting pottery to enhance my home design.

Proudest DIY: My favorite DIY was choosing and hanging the wallpaper in my powder room. The powder room is one bathroom that you can always have a great time being really creative with. The wallpaper I selected is not only fun but also chic and sophisticated. The wallpaper I went with gave my powder room the perfect edge I was looking for. The wallpaper can be found at designyourwall.com.

Biggest Indulgence: The biggest indulgence in my home is my led-lighted faucets. These faucets light the water blue when it’s on cold and red when it’s on hot. It’s a great conversation piece. I love the design because it is very sleek.

Best advice: The best advice I was given was to do a lot of research online. It’s important to hear what people have to say about their experiences with certain furniture, faucets, toilets and other misc items. I went onto Apartment Therapy daily.

Dream source: I hired Jensen Dagget as my interior designer. She is such an amazing source of information when it comes to home design.

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>I ran across Christopher Marley’s work on Barney’s website today. Its been a minute since I’ve seen his work and this was a great reminder to share the images with you all.

“His graceful arrangements of jewel-like arthropods make converts of those who have seen insects as creepy – these are stunning works of art, his delicate butterfly assemblages sublime. Marley’s keen eye for design combines with his entomological education to produce mesmerizing, kaleidoscopic bug mandalas and striking up-close-and-personal single-insect portraits. The photographs of these arrangements present the bugs in their natural state: he does not digitally enhance any of the images.”

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I stopped in to Le Bel Age for a last minute Mothers Day gift and was happy to find this great bag with a punch of color for under $50… with a loop on the front for your sunglasses and enough room to talk your ipad in. I bought this along with some fancy blue-green […]

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We took the bogs on a walk to the park last Saturday. They love the sights and sounds of the serene trails. This time we took the center paved walkway along the backside of the Serra Museum which takes you along the back around to the front for a great sunset view. As you can […]

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Saturday was wet weather so once the sun came out I couldnt wait to get out and enjoy the warm fall weather. Here are some fotos from the rain and after, some yummy food we ate and a walking trip. Enjoy! Stormy Pringle Street Looking West Sunset Pringle Street West Taste of the Himalayas see […]